


Sapphic Artes

by priestessamy



Series: Tales of Useless Gays [2]
Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, But i also just decided Rose is too, F/F, Maggie was already trans, Sorry Not Sorry, Theology, Trans Female Character, inside baseball
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/priestessamy/pseuds/priestessamy
Summary: Alisha is finally beginning her doctoral program in theology. But it's more intimidating than she realized. Intense professors. Cheerful friends. And a cute redhead with way too many tattoos. All that reading and writing is going to be the least of her troubles.
Relationships: Alisha Diphda/Rose, Edna/Lailah (Tales of Zestiria)
Series: Tales of Useless Gays [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1183001
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. College Kids

**Author's Note:**

> First, a quick apology for just how 'inside' this fic gets. It started with me putting Eleanor in divinity school in my last fic, and now that has exploded to EVERYONE doing it. So some stuff may not make sense because I'm pulling from my own life experiences. I will not, however, apologize for just how many people show up in this story because I love big crossovers where everyone is gay. Once we get past the introductory stuff, it'll be a lot more of my usual fluff.
> 
> Second, for anyone who might be confused, this first chapter is a re-upload with some edits because I finally finished the game and the DLC and it made me want to change some stuff.

Alisha sipped nervously at her punch and stared around the room. This was a crowded and intimidating event. All of these brilliant people in a single place, all chatting and animated and so normal. She was feeling incredibly overwhelmed and was ready to get out of that place and find somewhere less intense. She was so lost in her mind she didn't realize that someone was approaching her. “Alisha Diphda, right? I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier. I'm Lailah!”

She actually jumped from surprise, and it took her a moment to catch her breath. “Oh, of course, it's so good to finally meet you.” Lailah took her hand and shook it rather emphatically. Shortly after Alisha had been accepted into her doctoral program, this woman had been her point of contact. There were emails, texts, and calls between the two of them across the summer, but this was the first time she'd actually seen her in person.

“It can be quite a lot to take in, huh? You'd never imagine a bunch of theology nerds could be capable of producing so much energy, yet here we are!” She turned, and joined her in watching the room for a moment or two. “I know it can be kinda tough, getting to know people like this. If you want, a few of us are doing a smaller party tonight just to celebrate the start of the year and everything. Just doctoral students. What do you say?”

There was a lot going on, and a smaller event sounded like a good idea to combat her anxiety. “Sure. I think it would be nice to hang out with you anyway, and I could use a less... crowded situation.”

Lailah gave her a smile that could have lit up an entire city block. “Wonderful! Whenever you're ready, let me know, and I can lead the way.”

“Hah, if I say we can head out now, will you assume I'm an anti-social dork?”

“Perish the thought,” the other woman replied with a light giggle.

* * *

Their destination was a house some distance from the center of the city. It took a half an hour riding on the metro, but Alisha found she was thoroughly enjoying getting to know Lailah in person. Her level of enthusiasm and animation in writing was nothing compared to how she acted when you were actually in the same space as her.

"So, you live with Sorey, right? He and I went to college together." Their train came to a stop and Lailah motioned for Alisha to hurry through the doors before they closed again.

“Yeah! It's me, and Sorey and his boyfriend Mikleo. Also, my girlfriend! She... Well, she'll be around, but I don't think she'll be terribly social. Edna is... Hm, you'll meet her, you'll see what I mean. Oh, uhh... And Zaveid. He... He's not part of the school, just renting a room. He might make some awkward comments, but he's harmless.” She giggled once again and motioned to a building just down the street. “I think we're also supposed to get a visit from some of our professors as well, so that should be quite entertaining.”

Alisha hummed softly. Wouldn't having professors over kind of kill the mood? Then again, that was mostly only true for undergrads and high schoolers. When she was in grad school, she went out for drinks with her professors on a few brief occasions. And now that she would be working so closely with them as both a colleague and a student, it didn't seem so strange. "I'm looking forward to meeting everyone! I did as much research as I could, but I'm sure being together in a relaxed setting is altogether different."

Rather than offer a useful reply, Lailah just smiled mysteriously at her, leading the way up to her home and unlocking the door. "You'll see. It can be pretty entertaining..."

Inside, things were quiet, mostly because there were only two people home – presumably her roommates. It became instantly obvious what Lailah had meant about her girlfriend because she didn't even get up from the couch to greet her, merely looking up from where she was messing with her phone and showing a glimmer of a smile. “Hey babe. That thing still happening tonight? Is it okay if I just hide in our room?”

Lailah sashayed over to sit next to her, wrapping her arms around her as though little Edna had just said the sweetest thing in the world. “Of course! It's gonna be pretty boring anyway, everyone just standing around debating ontology and eschatology and exegesis for hours on end. Pretty much insufferable.” She nuzzled into her cheek without a shred of self-consciousness, and it was legitimately hard to tell if Edna enjoyed it or merely suffered through it. “Oh, this is Alisha, she's the one I've been chatting with to help her get adjusted. Alisha, this is Edna, and that's Mikleo.”

She motioned to a guy sitting nearby with absolutely gorgeous light hair who smiled pleasantly enough, setting aside the book he'd been reading. “It's a pleasure. What's your focus? Sorey and I are both foolishly putting all our focus into dead languages, so our futures are fairly limited.”

"I'm going into the same program as Lailah, trauma theology. But with a focus on chaplaincy, since those are particularly traumatic circumstances. Hospitals and war zones and all."

"Ah, so we're going to be seeing more of this one, I take it," Edna said, dry and overly sarcastic. Alisha hoped that didn't mean the girl immediately hated her, and this was just her usual manner. That was certainly the impression Lailah had given her, but perhaps she was biased. It was just legitimately difficult to know.

Before she could really add anything to the conversation, a knock at the door drew everyone's attention. Rather than waiting for anyone to answer it, the door simply swung open and Sorey came walking in. Mikleo rose and went straight to him, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him squarely on the lips. “Well! I was going to ask if we were late but it looks like we're right on time.” He glanced over from the embrace to see Alisha and grinned even wider. "Ah! Lailah conned you into coming over, that's awesome!" Before she knew it, Alisha was being pulled into a tight hug, which was not exactly the norm for her. "It's so good to see you."

Wandering in after him was a redheaded girl in cutoffs and a short-sleeved jacket. A good percentage of her visible skin was covered in a variety of colorful tattoos. “Ew, affection, gross.”

“The intrusion of so many unwanted strangers means that's my cue. Fair thee well, all. Keep the noise level on your dorky stuff to a minimum. I don't want to have to storm in here and yell at you all in front of your dorky professors.” Edna gave a shockingly elaborate curtsy, and was given one last kiss on the top of her head from Lailah before disappearing into the upper level of the house.

As strangely adorable as the display was, Alisha was honestly more distracted by the redhead. She told herself it was mostly due to the colorful ink on her body and not... literally anything else about her. Certainly not the bright eyes or the cheery smile.

It was only when Lailah clapped her hands together that Alisha remembered there were other people around and maybe she shouldn't go staring at a pretty girl. Besides, if everyone else in the room was in some kind of happy, healthy relationship, then she probably was too. How much worse to develop a crush on a relative stranger only to see that they were otherwise taken? “Alright, five people is enough to start calling this a proper party. I think all the drinks and snacks are waiting in the kitchen?”

Mikleo nodded, and they all wandered into the other room so that they could get on with the good stuff.

* * *

Even as more people began filtering into the place, Alisha wasn't feeling nearly so nervous anymore. There was Sorey, who she had known for several years, and Lailah who made you feel like you knew her pretty much immediately. Mikleo, too, was kind of a kindred spirit - a little bit old-school, a little overly formal.

The issue, as it turned out, was Rose. Rose was... different. She was a heavy-drinking, no-filter, rough-and-tumble sort of girl. She slammed back beers and said whatever was on her mind.

So instead, she mostly hovered around her new friends instead. It was especially nice to see Sorey so happy with his boyfriend. That was a guy who deserved a lifetime of happiness. They were currently introducing her to their advisor, Dr. Sage. It sounded as though the woman had effectively made a career out of exploring ruins and researching dead societies. It made sense, she remembered Sorey spending an entire semester abroad in Greece. As their conversation became peppered with more and more bits of ancient Hebrew and Greek, she eventually broke away to see what Lailah was up to.

She was beaming at a woman with her pink-dyed hair and gestured grandly. “Ah, this is my dissertation _savior_ , Dr. Estellise Heurassein. Without her, I would surely be doomed.”

She instantly brushed this off with a dismissive wave of her hand. “How many times have I told you, no one knows how to pronounce or spell my name. Just call me Estelle. It makes everyone's life easier.”

“Aaaaanyway, Doc Estelle is a specialist in grief, suffering, and pain. Sounds like maybe you'll be studying under her too. I've been working with her to try and figure out how we can apply her research to working with addicts.” She beamed a little more now. “Actually, it was during my internship at a local clinic where I met Edna. She's a nurse there. I'll never forget the first thing she said to me. I greeted her and she said-”

The woman in question appeared, despite her earlier grumbling about not wishing to attend the gathering. “I believe it was something to the effect of 'Either fuck off or help me, because I already lost someone to an OD today and I'm not in the mood for any bullshit.' But I was very charming about it. Probably.”

“You definitely were," Lailah cooed, nuzzling into her. "Now, Estelle, where'd your wife get off to?”

She just gave a fond sigh and rolled her eyes. "She's inventing a new candle so that she can burn it at more than two ends at once." They all offered a round of gentle laughter, save for Edna who remained dead-pan as ever. "She's got some project or another distracting her. It's part of the usual pattern of our lives."

That was when a particularly large crew of visitors entered. At the head of the group was a tall guy with blonde hair and a serious face. Edna suddenly seemed to lose all trace of her cool exterior. She launched herself at him, wrapping him up in a tight hug. “How's my big idiot?”

“Big and idiotic as ever.” Like her, the stony look gave way to a fond smile as he tousled her hair.

Coming in after him was a group of three women. One had dark black hair and a strange glove covering her entire right arm. The second was a lanky blonde with a serious bounce in her step. The third, a studious redhead smiling pleasantly at everyone.

Once again Lailah leaned over with her helpful, seemingly encyclopedic knowledge. "Ah, that'll be Dr. Hume. Didn't realize Eleanor would be bringing her wives along. Well, I say wives, I don't think they ever got legally married... Oh! And Eizen, Edna's brother. Small world, I know~"

The party was getting denser. There were more and more people that she didn't know, and Alisha only had so much energy to devote to learning names and getting comfortable being around everyone. It didn't matter that Alisha had several degrees under her belt. It didn't matter that she was intelligent and driven and ready to learn even more. None of that mattered. She was getting overwhelmed and there was only so much that could be done about it. "I-I need to get some air..." she muttered before hurrying out to the back deck.

The peace didn't last long. Expecting to find the area empty, she was a little disappointed to find Rose sitting outside, staring off into the distance, alternating between smoking a cigarette and sipping from an alcoholic concoction. She looked at her with a playful grin. "Hey there, Princess. What're you doing out here, slumming it with lil old me?"

_Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Amazing work._


	2. Over Thinking

Alisha had really been hoping to have a few moments alone. But if someone had to be out here with her, she really would have preferred it not be Rose. She may have been quite striking, but there was something about her manner that rubbed her the wrong way. Case in point, she'd just called her 'Princess'. Who did that to somebody they didn't even know??

"I-I'm not... 'slumming' it out here with you. I just... I needed to get some air." She wanted to point out that this was even more difficult with Rose smoking, but she wasn't looking to make an enemy here. "It doesn't seem as though you're slumming it either. A smoke break is hardly exile."

She just rolled her eyes and took a long drag. "Oh, stop being dramatic. I'm just killing time until my advisor gets here. She said she'd bring her wives and Edna's brother around." She stubbed out the last of her cigarette and reclined a bit more in the lawn chair.

It wasn't terribly difficult to figure out who Rose was talking about, and Alisha motioned with a head tilt toward the back door. "They just showed up. You should head on in."

"Wow, trying to get rid of me so you can have this marvelous view all to yourself, huh? Well, no dice. It's a nice night out. They know where to find me." Rose stood up, stretching her arms up over her head, then leaning up against the railing with a soft sigh. "Maybe you're not the only one who doesn't like a crowded room."

Alisha didn't exactly appreciate having someone read her so easily. Or perhaps she was just developing some very mixed feelings about this woman. "I never said I didn't. I simply-" Before she could start to get properly upset or frustrated, she was cut off by the arrival of two new faces on the deck. It was probably for the best - getting into a disagreement at her first party was probably bad form.

"There's my favorite bitch!" In a blur, the blonde from earlier came dashing through the door, throwing her arms around Rose and smooching her dramatically on the cheek.

Trailing somewhere behind was the other woman that had entered with Dr. Hume, with the long glove. "Pretty sure Eleanor's academic ethics means Rose can't be a part of our polycule, Mags. No matter how much you might wish it."

'Mags' gave a dramatic pout - she seemed to do everything dramatically - and wrapped her arms even tighter around the redhead. "Don't be gross, Vel. Rose is like... our daughter. She's even got her mother's hair!" she cooed, fondly ruffling her locks.

"Now who's making it weird..." Rose added, muttering. "Anyway, Alisha, I'd like you to meet Velvet and Maggie. Eleanor is somewhere around here. She's my advisor. As you can see, we get along... maybe a little bit too well." With a few slick moves, she was able to slip out of Maggie's grasp and straighten herself out.

In spite of her best efforts, it seemed that the deck had become just as raucous as inside. Still, she didn't have it in her to be rude two times in such a short period of time. "It's very nice to meet you," she said to the two newcomers with a small bow of her head, then turned to look back at Rose. "What's your focus anyway?"

"Is it not obvious? Damn, I'm getting rusty. I mean, I try to broadcast it as loud as I can with my entire aura. Eleanor is a local authority on queer theology and I absolutely had to study under her. She's, like, brilliant. What about you? I feel like you've got a... Hmm, you were hanging out with Lailah. Are you studying with Estelle?"

Clever. "Yes, you ahh... you got it in one," she said with a nod and an awkward laugh. "I will be going through the process of studying trauma theology for chaplains, which surely won't be soul-crushing and painful at all."

While everyone was offering her a good-natured chuckle, Dr. Hume finally came through the back door, nestling in behind Velvet and wrapping arms around her stomach. "Ah, our newest doctoral student. Ms. Diphda, yes?" She glanced past her at Maggie with a fond scowl. "Were you hitting on Rose _again_?"

Maggie threw her hands up in the air. "God, I admit to one little fantasy and suddenly I'm the monster here!"

There was a beat, followed by a much more enthusiastic round of laughter. Alisha did her best to join in, though she felt as if she was more than a little out of her depth at this point. You had to admit, these people all seemed so sure of themselves, so happy. She wondered how to get that. She hoped that being here and learning to make the world a better place would get her that. Because otherwise, she was having trouble finding it.

"Whadya say, Princess, you got enough air yet? We should probably head back inside before they send a search party to find all of us."

Alisha snapped out of her thoughts and glanced around between the lot of them. She certainly didn't feel so overwhelmed anymore. Or at least the overwhelming feeling was of a different sort now. So she was willing to take that. "Um, yeah, sure."

* * *

Somehow, Alisha hadn't really expected the events of the evening to include playing Cards Against Humanity. Most of the professors had long since departed, though not Eleanor, Velvet, or Maggie. They were all seated around a table in various degrees of inebriation, Lailah shuffling the cards with as much flourish as one could manage when the deck was several inches thick.

Maggie propped her cheek against her fist. "Please tell me we're not using the 'passable transvestites' card because I will burn down your house, friend of the family or not."

"I heard they stopped using that one in newer versions, which is super cool. Anyway, don't worry. Rose would have never let me hear the end of it if we still had that." Lailah shared a fond smile with her, receiving a nod of approval in return.

"To be clear, I would not have let her actually burn down your house either way. This is what happens when your wife is a comedian." Eleanor rolled her eyes and picked up the hand of cards as it was laid down in front of her.

This was such a strange experience. Alisha was very swiftly realizing that she was surrounded by a type of people that she had never really been exposed to before. And there was something so strangely liberating about it. Though she did feel quite awkward picking up her own hand and looking to see what the cards said. Sorey and Mikleo had made the mistake of telling Alisha that the game was a spin on Apples to Apples, but now it seemed that perhaps they hadn't warned her fully. "Oh. Um. Oh dear..."

"Oh my god, Princess, your face is so red! Is this your first time?? Are we busting your cherry right now?? That's adorable..."

Rose's teasing only made the blushing worse. Alisha stammered, fumbling with the cards in her hands. "I just... I didn't realize... 'Rush Limbaugh's soft shitty body'? A-And this one! 'Pac-Man uncontrollably guzzling-'" She swallowed back her disgust. "That's. Nope. Wow."

"You're right, Rose, this one is too precious. Can we keep her??" Maggie asked, glancing between her wives.

Even Velvet, who up to this point had been mostly just neutral in her reactions, began to smile. "Everyone, be nice. I seem to recall what a certain professor was like when she was a little baby."

At that point, Eleanor made direct eye contact with Alisha and offered a much warmer and caring smile. "She's not kidding. I mean, I had my baggage, same as anyone. But I was pretty damn precious. Just embrace whatever you are and don't let these losers make you feel bad about it."

As nice as it was to have them jump to her defense, it wasn't doing anything to keep Alisha from feeling super embarrassed. All this attention on her because she was shocked by a couple words on pieces of cardboard? It made her feel weirdly like the innocent church girl among a bunch of... well... mostly church people. Which was bizarre. "I-It's okay, just... surprising. I still want to play."

"You're very brave," Edna said in what was most definitely mock-support. But also maybe real support? Without waiting for confirmation that she was up first, she laid down a black card from the nearby deck. "Now. Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

In spite of any hesitation she might have felt, once Alisha got into the rhythm of the game, she found that she was having a fantastic time. She may not have been earning very many 'awesome points'. And everyone would groan a little bit when it was her turn to judge and she'd say something like "Oh, this one is really deep, I like that!"

But all of it felt very... fond and appreciative. In spite of how little she seemed to fit in here, these people were really accepting her. Granted, the alcohol and the childish humor helped.

Eventually, Eleanor left with her extended family, and it seemed like things were winding down. With the hosts growing sleepier by the minute, it looked like it was time to head out as well. Rose glanced at her with a chummy grin. "C'mon, Princess, we should get outta their hair before everyone gets sick of us."

Us? There was something about that word that burrowed into her brain, but Alisha refused to linger on it too long. "It is getting late. I should get on the metro before they stop service."

"I'll walk ya to the station." They said their goodbyes and headed off into the night. Alisha was vaguely aware of her slightly stumbling steps. She may not have been drunk, but she was certainly still tipsy. Rose, meanwhile, appeared to be quite steady at the moment. Graceful, even. "So, where you living, anyway? You, uh, goin' my way?"

It never occurred to her that Rose was being anything other than a bit silly, so Alisha just laughed it off. "I'm near Ladylake Station. How about you?"

"No shit?" She laughed brightly, digging her hands into her jacket pockets. "Samesies. Guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other, huh? Not that I'm complaining." Rose capped that off with a shameless wink.

The gears started turning over in Alisha's head. _Was that...?_ It seemed ridiculous. The two of them had practically nothing in common, hardly any reason to be anything beyond colleagues. They could maybe be friends, or at least friends of friends. But the thought that she was actually flirting with her right now seemed kind of incomprehensible. For the millionth time that night, her face erupted in a bright blush. "Um, th-thank you, but... Sorry, I'm not exactly... I mean I'm not looking..."

Rose's laughter only got more enthusiastic. The two of them were approaching the nearby outdoor station as a train came rolling up. She sauntered through the opening doors, gesturing grandly. "I have the entire trip to change your mind~"


End file.
